The truth about death!?

Question

by Wayne Blank

Everyone has had family or friends who have passed away, and it's quite natural to wonder what happened to them when death occurred. Where are they now? Are they somehow still conscious? Are they alive and dead at the same time?
The example of Jesus Christ clearly answers the question. The Son of God (see The Logos) was born as a normal physical human (Hebrews 2:14-18). After He was brutally killed (see How Did Jesus Christ Die?), His body was placed in the tomb (see The Garden Tomb) where He remained dead until He was resurrected to life. His resurrection would not have been necessary if He had been alive while He was dead.

What does The Bible actually say about what happens when humans die, and more importantly, what does The Word of God say about how and when they stop being dead?

A Peaceful Sleep, No Sense Of The Passage Of Time


"For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing" (Ecclesiastes 9:5 RSV)

"For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts; for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again." (Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 RSV)

"Brethren, I may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.... For David did not ascend into the heavens" (Acts 2:29,34 RSV)

"No one has ascended into heaven but He who descended from heaven, the Son of man." (John 3:13 RSV)
A Later Resurrection


"But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:20-23 RSV) (see The Return Of Jesus Christ)

"Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!" (Isaiah 26:19 RSV)

"But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet The Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with The Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 RSV)

"Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4-6 RSV)

"for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." (John 5:28-29 RSV)

"And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." (Daniel 12:2 RSV)

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it; from His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and if any one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:11-15 RSV)

Answer 1

Sir, I may die before I finish reading your question.

Answer 2

You have to realize that life after death is a story concocted because the thrombosis-ridden brains of our elders, thousands of years ago, would become oxygen-starved if their breathing stopped and they would hallucinate Near-Death Experience stuff. None of it was real, and all our religions derived from their phoney dreams.

Today the people who have Near Death Experience stuff can't agree on what they see. It is coloured by their existing religion. Jews never see Jesus and Christians never see Buddha. They all report seeing a bright "tunnel of light" -- but what is it that they are all exposed to? The bright light of a surgical table, that's where it comes from.

You are not the most reliable witness to your own death. Your brain gets oxygen-starved and hallucinates. Instead, when you die, ask your friends to make notes and they will truthfully report what happens when you die: you go cold, flies lay eggs in you that develop into maggots and you rot. Good sense in MOST of the world's cultures dictate that you be buried or cremated quickly. And that's that.

Answer 3

Here's an altar call for you, boy.

My friend lost both of her very Christian parents recently. One of them died first, and the priest said that he was 'up in heaven with God because God needed him'. A week later, the other one died, and I, an atheist, had to tell my friend. The priest said that 'God was with her husband and he beckoned her to come up'.

Was that fair to my friend at all, who has been left behind with no parents to care for her, just because God wanted her parents?

No, it's not fair. Your hypocritical statement is disturbing at best. It makes it sound as though nothing is better than death, because you get to see God. Meanwhile, the left behind are forced to sob and pick up the pieces. Is this what God likes? To torment good people, to torture his Christian followers with such sorrow and misery that they almost lose their faith? Is he TESTING her?! Is that what you will say, o altar-beckoning boy? Will you tell me that God wanted to test her faith, so he slaughtered her parents to see if she would break under the pain? Is this what a just God does?

I see no reason to be considerate when a boy like you dares to assume anything about death, no matter how wonderful you think God is. I don't care. I've seen the religious get squished by death like flies, and God didn't do so much as bat an eyelash to comfort the weeping families left behind.

Answer 4

The truth about death..................
When someone is dead , it is actually the body that died.The person who is the SOUL cannot die.This is the truth.The soul is eternal, cannot be killed nor destroy.The soul changes bodies as we changes our garments.
"As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones,the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up old and useless ones."

Answer 5

We all die. There is no afterlife. A book written after the fact of someones supposed life is not proof.

Answer 6

Yawn! couldn't make it throught the whole book before getting tired.

Answer 7

There is no reason to afraid of the DEATH. I saw it 2 times.

Answer 8

Not a question.

When you get reported, remember that it's because you didn't follow the rules, not for your beliefs!

Answer 9

Ask a question!! Stop preaching!!

Answer 10

two points!